Introduction My fifth great-grandparents Johann Michael and Anna Margaretha Gräter Lieb represent the earliest documented ancestors of my great-grandmother, Catherine Ellen Lieb McWilliams. The Liebs emigrated from present-day Germany to America. Written records of the Gräter family and Anna Margaretha's second husband, Johann Mathias Staudt's family, date back into the 1600s in church books in the Sulzdorf, Württemberg and Wolfersweiler, Saarland states in the Holy Roman Empire. The Lieb's arrived in Philadelphia on Saturday, August 11, 1750. The rest is history!
LAND HO!
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| The East Prospect of the City of Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania 1761 |
The travelers’ prayers were
answered when they finally reached the Port of Philadelphia after enduring
their treacherous journey across the Atlantic Ocean. As the ship entered port,
the joyous pealing of church bells in the city signaled their arrival to
residents who were eager to greet relatives, receive news from their homeland,
or select indentured servants from the passengers who were unable to pay their
fare. Surely, the Liebs could hardly wait for their feet to touch dry land in
the New World! Captain Hugh Steel had safely anchored their ship, the Patience,
on the broad Delaware River and the 266 passengers aboard were anxious to leave
their cramped quarters after months at sea. However, Michael and Conrad’s families were not allowed to leave until some
business was settled. Captain Steel ordered the 124 adult men on the Patience
to board a small boat. The men clambered onto the dinghy, rowed toward the city
and disappeared from sight after the craft reached the shore.
On 11 August 1750, Michael and his
father-in-law followed Captain Steel from the boat onto Front Street where they
dodged through crowds doing business in the waterfront warehouses on either
side of the street. They walked to Second Street where they approached the
Court House, topped with a weathervane and cupola that held the town bell on
High Street (now Market Street). They marched up the front steps, through the
portico and onto the second floor to anxiously await their fate.
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| The Court House in Philadelphia Erected in 1707 |
The men eventually stood before an
official wearing a judicial robe and white wig. He was Thomas Lawrence,
Esquire, the Mayor of Philadelphia. The foreigners were instructed to repeat
the unintelligible English words a clerk read to them, that they did not
understand, because they only spoke the German language of their homeland.
After repeating the oath as best they could, Michael and Conrad were required
to sign two pieces of parchment paper. Unlike some of the men who “signed” with
an “X” mark, they both carefully signed their names in German script. When the
signatures had been recorded, the men were led back to the awaiting boat at the
water’s edge.
The Liebs and Gräters must have had funds to pay for their passage because they were not indentured upon their arrival in Philadelphia. Immigrants who were not able to secure payment were “hired” to colonial citizens who agreed to employ the destitute travelers for a stated time period to earn their fare and repay the ship captain for their ocean voyage. A typical term of indenture was seven years for a young adult or until age 21 for a child. Families also had to repay the cost of passage for any family member who died after the halfway point of the voyage. Even orphaned children could be placed in servitude if they arrived at port with no money and no one to support them.
THE OATHS
Large numbers of foreigners who did
not embrace the English language, laws and customs were pouring into
Pennsylvania by the late 1720s. The German-speaking immigrants stubbornly
retained their beloved language and customs for decades after settling in
America. This alarmed the British monarchy and the Pennsylvania Proprietors.
Even Ben Franklin was concerned with the possibility that “Germans” might take
over the province. As a result, two oaths were required of Palatine immigrants
who arrived after 1727. The first was a Declaration of Allegiance and the
second was a two-part Declaration of Fidelity and Oath of Abjuration. The oaths promised allegiance to the British Crown and Pennsylvania
Proprietors and renounced allegiance to foreign governments. These were the
documents Michael and Caspar were compelled to sign.
Declaration of Allegiance
We Subscribers, Natives and Late Inhabitants of the Palatinate upon the Rhine and Places adjacent, having transported ourselves and Families into this Province of Pennsylvania, a Colony subject to the Crown of Great Britain, in hopes and Expectation of finding a Retreat & peaceable Settlement therein, Do Solemnly promise & Engage, that We will be faithful & bear true Allegiance to his present MAJESTY, KING GEORGE THE SECOND, and his Successors, Kings of Great Britain, and will be faithful to the Proprietor of this Province; And that we will demean ourselves peaceably to all His said Majesties Subjects, and strictly observe & conform to the Laws of England and of this Province, to the utmost of our Power and best of our understanding.
The list bearing Michael and
Caspar’s signatures on the first oath have not survived, but their signatures on
the second oath were preserved and are now housed in the Pennsylvania Archives
in Harrisburg. Their names are quite legible, even though they are written in
German Kurrentschrift [cursive script].
Declaration of Fidelity and Oath of Abjuration
I [A B] do solemnly & sincerely promise & declare that I will be true & faithful to King George the Second and do solemnly sincerely and truly Profess Testifie & Declare that I do from my Heart abhor, detest & renounce as impious & heretical that wicked Doctrine & Position that Princes Excommunicated or deprived by the Pope or any Authority of the See of Rome may be deposed or murthered by their Subjects or any other whatsoever. And I do declare that no Forreign Prince Person Prelate State or Potentate hath or ought to have any Power Jurisdiction Superiority Preeminence or Authority Ecclesiastical or Spiritual within the Realm of Great Britain or the Dominions thereunto belonging.
I [A B] do Solemnly sincerely and
truly acknowledge profess testify & declare that King George the Second is
lawful & rightful King of the Realm of Great Britain & of all others
his Dominions & Countries thereunto belonging, And I do solemnly &
sincerely declare that I do believe the Person pretending to be Prince of Wales
during the Life of the late King James, And since his Decease pretending to be
& taking upon himself the Stile & title of King of England by the Name
of James the third, or of Scotland by the Name of James the Eighth or the Stile
& Title of King of Great Britain hath not any Right or Title whatsoever to
the Crown of the Realm of Great Britain, nor any other the Dominions thereunto
belonging. And I do renounce & refuse any Allegiance or obedience to him
& do solemnly promise that I will be true and faithful, & bear true
allegiance to King George the Second & to him will be faithful against all
traiterous Conspiracies & attempts whatsoever which shall be made against
his Person Crown & Dignity & I will do my best Endeavours to disclose & make known to King George
the Second & his Successors all Treasons and traitorous Conspiracies which
I shall Know to be made against him or any of them. And I will be true &
faithful to the Succession of the Crown against him the said James & all
other Persons whatsoever as the same is & stand settled by An Act Entituled
An Act declaring the Rights & Liberties of the Subject & settling the
Succession of the Crown to the late Queen Anne & the Heirs of her Body
being Protestants, and as the same by one other Act Entituled An Act for the
further Limitation of the Crown & better securing the Rights &
Liberties of the subject is & stands settled & entailed after the
Decease of the said late Queen, & for the Default of Issue of the said late
Queen, to the late Princess Sophia Electoress & Dutchess Dowager of Hanover
& the Heirs of her Body being Protestants; and all these things I do
plainly & sincerely acknowledge promise & declare according to the
express Words by me spoken & according to the plain & common Sense and
understanding of the same Words, without any Equivocation mental Evasion or
secret Reservation whatsoever. And I do make this Recognition Acknowledgement
Renunciation & Promise heartily willingly & truly.
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Johann Michael Lieb and Caspar Gräter’s Signatures on the Oath of Abjuration from the Pope |
Sources:
Strassburger, Ralph Beaver and Hinke, John William, Pennsylvania German Pioneers Volume II, Norristown, Pennsylvania, 1934, Pennsylvania German Society, p. 106; accessed https://archive,org
Strassburger, Ralph Beaver and Hinke, John William, Pennsylvania German Pioneers Volume I, Norristown, Pennsylvania, 1934, Pennsylvania German Society, p. 114; accessed https://archive,org
Woodward, Virginia, The Beginning of a New Life, Lynn-Heidelberg Historical Society; accessed lynnheidelberg.org
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